Interactive Read-Aloud Lesson Plan

The heart of this unit is the read-aloud books. Most books about
immigration are written beyond the reading level of 2nd graders, so
reading aloud is vital. During the read-aloud I stop frequently to
discuss the book, ask questions, and encourage good listening.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

1. Maintain focus during the read-aloud

2. Listen attentively
3. Respond to questions from their classmates and me
4. Ask questions and participate in discussion
MATERIALS

1. Read-Aloud picture books. See My Booklist

2. Words From Other Countries (PDF) optional
SET UP AND PREPARE

1. It’s important to read the books ahead of time. I set aside time
weekly to read through books. Find what works for you.
2. Look for new words that are crucial to students’ understanding of
the story. Write them on sentence strips and prepare to pre-
teach the words before you read.
3. Set the mood. I turn out the ceiling lights and turn on a small
lamp. This is the signal that read-aloud is about to begin.
 4. Be prepared to give a short introduction to the book. Don’t give
away the story, but do interest students in the book before you
read it. Think of it as selling the book.
REPRODUCIBLES

1. Words From Other Countries (PDF)

DIRECTIONS
Teaching through Read-Alouds

Whenever I read aloud to children I have certain reading goals:

• To model fluent, expressive, slow reading

• To teach new vocabulary
• To make sure they understand the content
• To think beyond the story
• To make connections to their own lives
While reading, I stop frequently to clarify what’s happening in the story
and ask questions like:

• What will happen next?

• What are you thinking right now?
• This reminds me of … What does it remind you of?
• What picture do you see in your mind right now?
• What does this make you wonder about?
• How is this story like other stories we have read?
See it in action:

Below are the kinds of questions I would ask when reading the
introductory book, Coming to America by Betsy Maestro. One of the
skills I’m teaching is divergent thinking. I am not looking for one
answer; rather, I’m asking children what they think and encouraging
multiple answers. I’m prepared to wait for students to think and ask
them if they agree or disagree with one another. This kind of
questioning takes time with younger children. I intersperse it with
reading because the books that are written on this topic are, for the
most part, books they cannot read themselves.

• What were some of the reasons people left their homes and
came to America?
• Were there people who came here who didn’t really want to
come here at all? Who do you think those people were? (children
who had to come with their parents, children who had to come
alone to meet their parents, older people, slaves, etc.)
• How would you have felt? Suppose you had to leave your home
suddenly for another country, like Australia? How would you
feel?
• What did people bring with them? What did they leave behind?
What would you bring with you?
• What does the Statue of Liberty stand for? Why is she holding a
torch? Why was the statue so important to immigrants?
• What happened to immigrants on Ellis Island?
• Were immigrants ever sent back? What do you think that felt
like? How would you feel?
• Where did people settle when they first came to America?
• What was easy about their new life in America? What was hard?
• Are immigrants still coming to America? Why?
Responses to Literature
As we are reading this rich literature, I like to do other activities to help
students connect to what we are learning. As I teach, the class returns
to the topic repeatedly over a four week period. Even after the unit is
over children continue to talk about it and bring up relevant stories and
facts that relate to this topic. At the end of the year it becomes one of
their lasting memories of second grade.

Here are some activity ideas:

• Sponge painting of the Statue of Liberty made to scale. The

students make the sponge painting with adult assistance. Then
they draw people on construction paper and cut them out. You
might not be able to see this in the photo but the people were
glued to the bottom of the picture, grouped around the statue.
This shows children the size of the Statue of Liberty.
• Mural of Words from Other Languages. I adapted this idea
from Instructor Magazine Nov-Dec 2004. I use the words from
the magazine and make a mural that we put up and keep up for
the rest of the year. I use mural paper and colored markers, and
laminate it to make it last.
• Drawings of How Immigrants Got Here. I use these drawings
as a kind of evaluation of what children have learned. First we
discuss means of transportation and then children make rough
sketches or plans on copy paper. I always ask students to make
a plan first. Then they draw and color detailed pictures of how
immigrants traveled to America. I also ask them to write 2-3
sentences on a 3x5" card explaining their picture. The reason I
use 3x5" cards is that they are small and less threatening for
beginning writers.
 • If possible, ask your parents to take their children to the Statue of
Liberty on a field trip. Or find a guest who has seen the Statue to
come and share their trip with your class. Three of my students
visited with their families. These students returned with more
information and great stories and mementos that they shared
with their classmates.
Projects like those above take several days each, maybe up to a week
to complete.

SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS

Repeated Reading: One way to support students is to read a book
more than once. I do this both because some books are complicated
and because students enjoy hearing them again. I find more students
participate in the discussion the second time. I also display the books
and encourage students to look at them during independent reading.

LESSON EXTENSION
Puppet Plays and Readers Theater: There are many ways to extend a
book. Those students who understand story structure can help you
adapt a story for a puppet play or readers theater performance.
Planning doesn’t have to be elaborate -- these activities are easier
than they sound.

ASSESS STUDENTS
Did the student:

• maintain focus while I read?

• ask questions?
• respond to my questions?
 • show evidence of higher level thinking (predicting, drawing
conclusions, etc.)?
• relate the book to other books and to his life?
HOME CONNECTION
I encourage parents to read aloud to their children nightly and talk with
parents about the importance of expressive reading. In addition I ask
students to read every evening for 15-20 minutes.

EVALUATE THE LESSON

One way you can tell lessons are successful is if you hear words from
the stories enter the students’ language. Are they talking about the
topic meaningfully and using the new words you have taught them? If
yes, then you are being effective. Another way to judge is to observe if
the stories get into the students’ play. When they say, “Let’s play
immigrants,” then you know you are successful.

Repeated interactive read-alouds: first reading of a picture

storybook
The first read-aloud includes four components: book introduction, vocabulary
support techniques, analytical comments and questions, and an after-
reading "why" question. These techniques have been carefully selected to
help children build a stronger first understanding of the story, including some
of its vocabulary.

Book introductions
Research has shown that effective readers quickly begin to infer story
problems and use their tentative ideas about problems to process story
information (Van den Broek, 2001). However, problems present challenges
for young children: They are often not directly stated in the text (Paris &
Paris, 2003; Stein & Glenn, 1979), and young children are relatively
insensitive to problems and goals compared to characters and actions
(Benson, 1997; Stein & Glenn). Because young children are not likely to
focus on the story problem, we craft book introductions to make the problem
explicit.

For example, Henny Penny (Galdone, 1968) is about a hen who mistakenly
believes that a piece of sky has fallen on her head. She is so upset by this
event that she acts foolishly and rushes to tell the king about this
occurrence. She does not recognize the danger posed by the fox when he
invites her and her friends to take a short cut right into his cave (the actual
problem of the story, which only readers and not the characters realize). In
order to construct a three- or four-sentence introduction we either explicitly
state or strongly imply the main problem of the story. For example, to
introduce Henny Penny we might say,
In this story you are going to meet a silly, foolish hen who makes a big
mistake. She thinks a catastrophe, a really bad disaster, is about to happen
and runs to tell the king about it. A lot of her friends believe her mistake,
and they all get in trouble because they are so silly.

As we give the book introduction, we show the front cover and sometimes
the back cover or end papers and the title page (rather than all the
illustrations as is done in a picture walk). For example, the front cover of
Henny Penny illustrates the main character and the end papers depict Henny
Penny running up a hill toward a castle. As we show these pages we
complete the book introduction:

Here is Henny Penny running to tell the king about the catastrophe. But I
have to warn you, she never makes it to the castle. Let's find out what
happens to her on the way to tell the king about the catastrophe.

We do not recommend that, during a first read, teachers have children

identify book parts such as the front and back cover or top and bottom of
the page, tell what the author or illustrator does, or discuss the dedication
page. We have found that these activities divert children's attention away
from the main goal of a first read-aloud-to enjoy a good story by focusing on
its meaning. As we read a book during a first read, we use expression,
gestures and dramatic pauses, variations in the pace of reading, and plenty
of eye contact. We have found these techniques highly effective at capturing
and maintaining children's interest and enjoyment, even when reading
longer and more sophisticated books.
Inserting vocabulary support
Before reading the book aloud, we select 5 to 10 vocabulary words or
phrases from the book that we will highlight or define during reading. These
words are critical to understanding the story and are likely to be
encountered in other books or useful in nonbook contexts (Beck, McKeown,
& Kucan, 2002). Sometimes the book does not include specific vocabulary
that ideal readers would use in their analytical thinking about this particular
book, so we insert these additional vocabulary words into the book
introduction and our comments as we read aloud. For example, we would
insert the words mistake, catastrophe, disaster, and foolish while reading
Henny Penny because these words are critical for analyzing the problem in
relationship to the main character's motivations and traits. Once we select
vocabulary words and phrases, we highlight the words or enhance word and
phrase meanings in one or more of five ways:

1. We insert a short phrase or sentence that defines or explains a word,

such as saying "Feast, that's a really big dinner."
2. We point to salient parts of the illustration that help clarify a word or
phrase meaning, such as pointing to the illustration of an acorn as we
read the word in the text.
3. We use dramatic gestures, such as demonstrating the meaning of
shrugged by shrugging our shoulders as we read.
4. We use voice, such as making clear the fox's sly intentions by reading
the text with a droll voice.
5. We vary the pacing with which we read words or phrases, such as
reading more quickly what Henny Penny says to demonstrate her
foolish rush.
It only takes a few moments to plan how to support children's understanding
of each word, but the most effective read-alouds are ones in which we
actually decide which of the vocabulary enhancers we will use for each
vocabulary word. For words that are to be clarified verbally, we plan short
explanations that are "slipped" into the story reading so the definitions are
part of the actual story without interrupting the flow of reading.

Comments and questions to support and extend comprehension

During reading we make comments that demonstrate analytic thinking at
three or four junctures in which ideal readers would make inferences about a
character's thoughts, feelings, or motivations, or we predict upcoming
events. When we comment about the story, we often use language to signal
our mental activity by using the phrase "I'm thinking." For example, in the
scene where Henny Penny exclaims, "The sky is falling. I must go and tell
the king" (unpaged), we may comment, "I'm thinking this is where the hen
is doing something really foolish. She isn't even looking down to try and find
out what really hit her. I think she is looking up instead of down." Then we
would go on to ask, "Why does the hen think a piece of the sky has fallen on
her head?" We have found that children's answers to questions following our
analytical comments are more likely to be related to the story. This teaching
sequence provides a deliberate and systematic approach toward expanding
children's comprehension. We have noticed that most young children are not
yet capable of engaging in analytic thinking and talking without teacher
modeling or questioning.

After-reading questions
After reading the entire book, we ask a "why" question requiring children to
make inferences about and explain several story events. Then we use follow-
up probing questions to support children's ability to answer broader
explanation questions. For example, after a first reading of Henny Penny, we
might ask the explanation question "Why didn't Foxy Loxy just jump up and
eat those silly birds? Why did he lead them into his cave?" In order to help
children answer this question we might comment, "I'm thinking that even
though the fox is strong and has big teeth, there are a lot of birds. How
many friends were with Henny Penny?" Recalling the number of birds will
help children infer that the fox may have only been able to catch and eat
one of the birds and the others might have escaped. We also help children
consider this question by using illustrations to support their thinking. In this
version of the story, the last illustration shows Foxy Loxy and Mrs. Loxy and
their seven children peering out from the cave. We turn to this illustration
and say, "You know I'm remembering this illustration right here. This might
give me a hint about why the fox led the birds into the cave. What is the
hint?" This comment might help children infer that Foxy led the birds into
the cave so that his children would also have a dinner, and his wife could
help catch the birds.

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Second interactive read-aloud

Second read-alouds occur a day or two after first reads. The purpose is to
enrich children's comprehension of the story and provide further
opportunities for children to engage in analytic talk. During second book
introductions, we remind children that they have read this book before and
that they will remember some things from the book; for example, we might
say,
We read this book yesterday, and you probably remember that it is about a
hen who misinterprets something that happened to her. Who can remember
what she thought happened to her? What was the catastrophe, and what did
she decide to do about it?

We continue to highlight the same vocabulary; however, in a second read we

verbally define more words. For example, during a first read of Owl Moon, in
which a father and a child go owling in the woods late one night, we might
simply dramatize how the owl pumped his wings. During the second read,
we would dramatize pumped and insert a verbal explanation (e.g., "That
means he flapped his wings up and down very hard").

During the second read, we continue modeling analytic comments, but we

ask more frequent questions that help children make additional inferences.
In the first read, our comments focus on getting children to infer what the
main character is thinking and feeling or to connect main events with their
causes. Thus, our comments and questions during the second read might
focus on the other characters' motivations or thoughts. Just as in a first
read, we prepare children to answer analytical questions by first modeling
analytic comments that make explicit some, but not all, of the information
needed to adequately answer the question. For example, in Henny Penny,
after Cocky Locky asks to join Henny Penny on her way to tell the king that
the sky is falling, we might comment, "I'm thinking that Cocky Locky
believes that a piece of the sky really did fall on Henny Penny's head." Later,
when Ducky Lucky joins Henny Penny and Cocky Locky, we comment,
"Henny Penny has now convinced two other birds that the sky is falling."
Then we could ask, "If they had been with Henny Penny when the acorn fell
on her head, what do you think they would have said when she shouted,
'Oh, my, the sky is falling, we must go and tell the king'?"

Like first reads, we end second reads by asking another explanation

question. Sometimes we ask children about something that might happen
beyond the story. For example, we might ask, "What do you think the king
would have done if Henny Penny had managed to get to the castle and told
him the sky was falling?"

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Third interactive read-aloud
Third reads occur a few days after the second read when the story is still
fresh in children's minds but when they must remember information across
some time. This close repetition is also important for reinforcing vocabulary
carefully developed during the first and second read. Third interactive read-
alouds differ from first and second read-alouds because they integrate a
guided reconstruction of the story with the teacher's reading of some of the
story text. Reconstructions are retellings of story events along with
explanations about what caused those events and what characters are
thinking during the events. Therefore, guided reconstructions are more
effective than mere retellings because children use analytical talk to explain
why events occurred.

In third read-aloud book introductions, we again acknowledge that children

are familiar with the book and its content and ask questions about the title
or characters, such as "We've read this book two times before, so I know
you know its title. What is it?" We usually allow children to respond together
to this easily answered question. We might continue to prompt children to
reconstruct information by asking, "What other details do we see on the
cover that we know are important for the story?" (e.g., prompting children to
notice the acorn on the front cover of Henny Penny). We continue to focus
on the story problem by asking, "We all remember Henny Penny's problem,
don't we? Who would like to share that with us?" We are very careful with
the number of questions we ask both during book introductions and during
guided reconstruction. We have found that third read-alouds can become
deadly when teachers overwhelm students with a barrage of questions.

We use two general prompts in guiding reconstruction of texts. Before

reading some pages of the story, we point to the illustration and ask,
"What's happening here?" We use this prompt as we show a double-spread
illustration. Sometimes we use the second question "Do you remember what
will happen next?" before turning to the next illustration. We only use this
question when the next event is causally related to the event the children
have just recalled. For example, in Owl Moon after reconstructing the event
in which the characters hear the owl hoot in response to the dad's call, we
might ask, "Do you remember what happens next?" because this scene
provides a connection to the next event: seeing the owl.

After children reconstruct the events on one double spread, we might read
the text. On longer books, we reread many pages of the text and have
children reconstruct only a few pages; on shorter books, we allow children to
reconstruct more of the story and read only a few pages of the text. The
length of the book and children's responses guide our decisions of whether
to read more or engage children in more reconstruction.

In third reads, teachers continue to insert verbal explanations of words,

point to illustrations, and make dramatic motions. To further emphasize
vocabulary in a third read, teachers extend some word meanings to a
familiar context but not one included in the story. For example, to extend
children's understanding of the word pumped in Owl Moon, we might say,
Sometimes, when you are on the swings outside and want help we tell you
to "pump your legs," and you move them back and forth to make yourself go
up and back on the swing. The owl was moving his wings-pumping them up
and down to fly through the sky.

Thus, each day of the repeated interactive read-aloud systematically builds

and extends children's awareness and understanding of vocabulary. Table 1
presents an overview of the components for the three days of repeated
interactive read-alouds.